In the face of the current global mass extinction crisis there is an urgent need to improve knowledge of where threatened wildlife occurs enabling the identification and appropriate management of critical populations. In the Australian context, monitoring the fate of threatened ground-dwelling mammals such as the southern brown bandicoot (Isoodon obesulus) and the long-nosed potoroo (Potorous tridactylus) presents a number of unique challenges for wildlife researchers. First, these species are patchily distributed and often occur at low densities in forest landscapes, making it difficult to find them. Second, they are cryptic and nocturnal, making direct observation in the wild impractical.

Existing survey techniques such as live-trapping are laborious and often highly inefficient. In addition, there are ethical problems involved in capturing animals including trap and handling stress. Bandicoots and potoroos are particularly problematic since adult females have a propensity to eject their pouch young upon capture. Given these factors it is essential to develop novel and humane ways to interact with these ecologically important animals. Recently, the Foundation for National Parks & Wildlife has sponsored a three-year project with the primary aim of developing efficient and ethical techniques for detecting bandicoots and potoroos.

Dr Andrew Claridge of the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service and Dr David Paull of the University of New South Wales are leading the research in south-eastern Australia, examining the utility of infrared digital camera technology and comparing it with alternative sampling methods such as the use of hair-sampling devices. Infrared cameras have been used elsewhere around the world to successfully survey and monitor threatened wildlife, including rare and cryptic carnivores such as the Snow Leopard (Panthera uncia) and Bengal Tiger (P. tigris). Hair sampling devices, based on the capture of hairs of mammals on adhesive tape, have similarly shed light on rare and endangered species like the Long-footed Potoroo (Potorous longipes). Unlike traps, both the cameras and the hair-sampling devices enable animals to move freely about their home ranges. Both methods also allow for the undertaking of more extensive surveys, in theory increasing the probability of detecting animals.

As an added twist, the project is examining the use of different bait attractants in the search for improvements to detection rates of bandicoots and potoroos. Traditional bait attractants such as peanut butter and rolled oats will be compared against novel lures such as imported black truffle oil – the latter being a mimic for the odours produced by native truffles that form a staple part of the diet of many ground-dwelling mammals. Fieldwork on this project commenced in autumn 2010. Preliminary results from comparative trials are indicating that infrared cameras offer the best potential for sampling bandicoot and potoroos, providing the most cost-effective and ethical means of monitoring sensitive wildlife.